7th February 2015
I had decided not to shoot that day. There was gloom in the air. I had apologized to Florence for having followed her to the hospital. As usual she had not replied. I sat in the room with melancholic music and tea. Then D Jeet pinged me saying he would like to shoot that day at Park Street Cemetery again. He was too unhappy with the previous day's footage. We decided to be there in the afternoon. I decided not to take sound equipment with me because we had already recorded the ambient sound there. Handling sound and the film together was becoming a huge problem for me ever since NN left. More than anything i hated how it reduced my mobility. Equipment was cumbersome. A pair wasn't a good number for arms, i felt.
That morning i got something i had been looking for for a long time. An actual death. I wanted to film a funeral and that day's obituary had one. We decided to attempt shooting that come what may. Decided to take my junior from Dept. of Audiography, Sabari along. Sabari and i had made friends on badminton court during the evening games i was playing as a stress busting routine.
D and i met at Park Street metro station, Gate #3 and walked to the cemetery.
I was still out of my senses from the previous day. I was thinking of what Florence might be doing. How her nephew was. If she was thinking of me at all.
We again shot this and that at the cemetery. Looked at people. There were couples loving in the vast expanse which was the oldest and biggest in Kolkata. Kissing, cuddling, cooing, i even spotted a pair playing hide and seek. It was good to see people in love.
When a girl walked in with a boquet of red roses i for a moment thought it was Valentine's Day. It wasn't. D said it could be Rose Day. I didn't even know one such existed. I thought he was cracking yet another poor joke.
We left only when the guards started shooing people away saying that the place was shutting down. It looked like during exams in school when you frantically hold on to the answer sheet and scribble away when the invigilator says the time is up. I was happy with one frame of what i watched. This wall which we together named the dead wall.
It was around 6 when we left and i was starving not having had lunch. We went to a roll joint (neither mean what they usually mean) and had chicken and mutton kati rolls. Oily to the core as usual, but good owing to an empty stomach.
On the way back i checked Florence's whatsapp profile as usual. It was then that i realized that it was indeed 'rose day'. She had that for a status. I thought of buying some roses and going to Madeiras immediately. Thought against it in a moment. It was the time for silence. Love was silent most of the time.
I had decided not to shoot that day. There was gloom in the air. I had apologized to Florence for having followed her to the hospital. As usual she had not replied. I sat in the room with melancholic music and tea. Then D Jeet pinged me saying he would like to shoot that day at Park Street Cemetery again. He was too unhappy with the previous day's footage. We decided to be there in the afternoon. I decided not to take sound equipment with me because we had already recorded the ambient sound there. Handling sound and the film together was becoming a huge problem for me ever since NN left. More than anything i hated how it reduced my mobility. Equipment was cumbersome. A pair wasn't a good number for arms, i felt.
That morning i got something i had been looking for for a long time. An actual death. I wanted to film a funeral and that day's obituary had one. We decided to attempt shooting that come what may. Decided to take my junior from Dept. of Audiography, Sabari along. Sabari and i had made friends on badminton court during the evening games i was playing as a stress busting routine.
D and i met at Park Street metro station, Gate #3 and walked to the cemetery.
I was still out of my senses from the previous day. I was thinking of what Florence might be doing. How her nephew was. If she was thinking of me at all.
We again shot this and that at the cemetery. Looked at people. There were couples loving in the vast expanse which was the oldest and biggest in Kolkata. Kissing, cuddling, cooing, i even spotted a pair playing hide and seek. It was good to see people in love.
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| D shoots at Park Street Cemetery |
When a girl walked in with a boquet of red roses i for a moment thought it was Valentine's Day. It wasn't. D said it could be Rose Day. I didn't even know one such existed. I thought he was cracking yet another poor joke.
We left only when the guards started shooing people away saying that the place was shutting down. It looked like during exams in school when you frantically hold on to the answer sheet and scribble away when the invigilator says the time is up. I was happy with one frame of what i watched. This wall which we together named the dead wall.
It was around 6 when we left and i was starving not having had lunch. We went to a roll joint (neither mean what they usually mean) and had chicken and mutton kati rolls. Oily to the core as usual, but good owing to an empty stomach.
On the way back i checked Florence's whatsapp profile as usual. It was then that i realized that it was indeed 'rose day'. She had that for a status. I thought of buying some roses and going to Madeiras immediately. Thought against it in a moment. It was the time for silence. Love was silent most of the time.
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